He Loved Me First ✓

He Loved Me First (23)

Chapter 23

I waited for their reactions. “You've been stationed at St. Thomas?!” my parents asked.

“Yes,” I said, smiling at their pleasant reaction. “I didn't even request it. They just placed me there. It's amazing how this works, isn't it?”

Later that night, I couldn't get to sleep. Too much had happened. I decided to sneak out of the house for a little late night adoration. I grabbed my car keys and opened the door.

“I'm coming with you,” a voice behind me said. Felicity grabbed her coat and said, “Let me guess, you couldn't sleep either? And you're going to adoration to fix the problem?”

I smiled wryly at her. “You know me too well.”

“Of course I do,” she said plainly. “Now, are we going or not?”

“We're definitely going,” I replied.

I drove the two of us to Saint Thomas. Since I was stationed there, I had a key to get in. Thankfully. Otherwise we would have been left standing outside. No one would have let us in at such a late hour.

To my surprise, Father Pius was sitting in the back pew, waiting for me. “I thought you might show up. I couldn't sleep the first night either,” he explained. “I wasn't expecting you to come, though you're always welcome.” The last remark was to Felicity.

“Ah, well, I couldn't sleep either. That's what happens when you're best friend gets ordained and you get to meet your favorite author in the same day,” she said.

“I guess I wouldn't know what that's like,” he said, smiling at her. “I'm going off the bed now. Lock back up when you leave.” He got up, then added, “Good night, Felicity. Father.”

It was dizzying to hear anyone call me that.

“Father Oliver,” Felicity said, pronouncing it delicately. “That's going to take a while to get used to.”

“Tell me about it,” I said.

Our conversation faded into silence and I walked most of the way up the aisle and kneeled in a pew almost at the front. Felicity went up a few more pews on the other side of the aisle.

I don't know how long the two of us stayed there, and I don't know what Felicity was praying for, but I was praying in thanksgiving. It had been a perfect day. I couldn't believe how perfect it was. I felt that I could only repeat two phrases over and over again: “Deo Gratias!” and “I love You.” It didn't matter that I couldn't seem to find any other words. Those two phrases sufficed just fine.

When we finally left, I felt that I would be able to sleep just fine when we got back to my parent's house. And that, I did. But not before Felicity pulled me aside and whispered, “I almost forgot to give you my present.” She handed me a small package wrapped in tissue paper. I opened it up and saw that it was a book, and not just any book, the book that would change my life once more, The Diary of St. Faustina.

*3 Years Later*

I was sitting at my desk, working on next week's homily when the phone rang. “Oliver, remember when I was so excited when you entered the seminary, and I told you that you could officiate my wedding?” the caller gushed, not even giving me time to say hello.

“Felicity, slow down!” I told her. “Breathe!”

I could hear her take a deep breath. “Sorry.”

I laughed and said, “Okay, I'm ready. Go on.”

“Well, I'm going to need you to officiate my wedding.”

“I can't do that,” I said.

“What?”

“Not until I meet him.”

“Oh,” she said quietly. “Okay. Could we be there on Tuesday? The wedding is on Sunday.”

“What? Sunday? You're giving me only twelve day's notice for your wedding? Felicity! For anyone else's wedding that would be acceptable, I suppose, but not for yours. I thought I deserved better than that.”

“This just happened all of a sudden,” she replied.

Red flags started going off in my mind. I wondered how she had sunken so low, but I let my doubt pass away. She was my best friend. I was just going to have to trust her. “Okay,” I said. “I'll see you on Tuesday.” I hung up the phone then and prayed for her and her future husband as well. I hoped the situation wasn't as it seemed at a glance. Only later did I find out that it was much worse than that.